OCC: The Gigabyte GTX 560 OC provided a solid gaming experience while being affordable. The whole time it was in use, the card was quiet. The 100mm fans were inaudible compared to the case fans even when run at full speed of ~2000 RPM. Overclocking results weren't ground breaking but the card did do well. Core speed was already overclocked 20 MHz from factory to 830 MHz and it was able to operate stable at 910 MHz. The memory was able to overclock from 1002 MHz to 1125 MHz stable as well. Temperatures were some of the best recorded with help from the WindForce heat sink! Power consumption numbers were some of the lowest out of the cards tested thanks to NVIDIA's design and Gigabyte's Ultra Durable VGA components. I couldn't discern any choke squeal so the Ultra Durable ferrite chokes definitely did their job well. With some voltage modification, this card should easily have a bit more headroom. The Gigabyte Easy Boost software is handy with overclocking and fan speed control and BIOS tools. Users can backup and flash their BIOS with the program with the push of a button! The only con for this card would be the overclocking capability in comparison to the cooling. The card had plenty of overclocking room thermally but was held back by a lack of voltage. Overclocking is a gamble and this note shouldn't be held against the card considering it did decently. The card itself wasn't at fault as it was designed for quiet stability and not designed for hardcore overclocking. The overclock results were approximately 11% gain on the core and 12% on the memory. The card performed very well but until stocks of the GTX 460 run out, it will be interesting to see how it sells being that the GTX 460 is considerably cheaper. Performance was great and everything worked perfectly so if the price is right this card makes a great choice!


TechReport: Based on our tests, it's pretty clear that the GTX 560 has a raw performance edge over the competition from AMD overall. However, that performance advantage isn't huge, and the Asus Radeon HD 6870 TOP has the distinction of being uncannily quiet for a $200 graphics card. Oh, sure, it draws a little more power at idle, but that doesn't seem to affect noise levels. As icing on the cake, the Radeon can drive as many as six displays. In the other corner, the GeForce GTX 560 TOP is faster, nearly as quiet, and costs only $20 more. It has company, too. MSI's GeForce GTX 560 Frozr II is almost as quick, only a little bit louder, and $10 cheaper. While neither card has hexa-display support, both let you enjoy Nvidia-specific perks like PhysX and GeForce 3D Vision. Some users like those extras, while others couldn't care less. You can make up your own mind on that front.

InsideHW: GeForce GTX560 fits the current market gamma perfectly, and we believe that it's destined to be a popular model. The fact that manufacturers can toy around with the clocks whichever way they want to promises many high-performance overclocked models from reputed brands. However, pay attention, as this is a double-edged sword - certain manufacturers may try to sell less potent chips which will be significantly downclocked compared to other cards on the market, trying to get rid of them by selling them to ill-informed buyers. This is the main reason why we believe NVIDIA should have at least set the lower margin for this GPU, which would protect their customers better, while this move gives the advantage to the manufacturers. Either way, GeForce GTX560 as such is an excellent product, and as far as ASUS' own rendition is concerned, a phenomenal one.